Australian National Memorial, Villers-Bretonneux,
Posted by: 
Jam y Papa
N 49° 53.220 E 002° 30.692
31U E 464910 N 5526181
The Villers-Bretonneux Memorial is the Australian National Memorial commemorating all the Australian soldiers who fought in France and Belgium during the First World War; to their dead, and especially to those of the dead whose graves are not known.
Waymark Code: WM62T2
Location: France
Date Posted: 03/23/2009
Views: 19
Of the 60,000 Australians who died in WWl, some 46,00 perished on the Western Front in France and Belgium. The area around Villers-Bretonneux saw heavy fighting in the spring and summer of 1918, with Australian forces, under Australian command, recently moved to the area from Gallipoli, recapturing the village a day after it fell to German forces. The village was retaken on 25th April - coincidentally 3 years to the day that the first ANZAC forces landed in Gallipoli - and a date now dedicated in Australia and New Zealand as Anzac Day every year. Deep bonds were forged between the village and Australia and the area was selected as the site of the Australian National Memorial. The 10,700 Australian sevicemen named on the memorial died in the battlefields of the Somme, Arras, the German advance of 1918, and the Allied Advance to Victory.
The Memorial was commemorated on 22 July 1938, by King George Vl.
Every year, on the morning of the Saturday nearest to Anzac Day (25 April), a memorial service is held at the site.
Villers-Bretonneux is a village 16 kilometres east of Amiens on the straight main road to St Quentin (The N 29). The Memorial stands in Villers-Bretonneux Military Cemetery, which is about 1 kilometre north of the village on the east side of the road to Fouilloy.
The Memorial is extremely well sign posted from all directions and is also highly visible for some distance.
From the N 29 turn northwards on to the D23 following the signs from the centre of the village.
The coordinates take you to a copper bas-relief close to the tower, where you will find descriptions of the actions on the Western Front.
Unfortunately, for safety reasons, the tower is normally kept locked, but it may be possible to obtain access upon request to the local gendarmerie.
Date the Monument or Memorial was built or dedicated: 07/22/1938
Private or Public Monument?: Government
Name of the Private Organization or Government Entity that built this Monument: French Government/ Commonwealth War Graves Commission
Geographic Region where the Monument is located: Europe
Website for this Monument: [Web Link]
Physical Address of Monument:
Villers-Bretonneux
Near Amiens, France
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